Emergency Department

A water main break in Coaldale struck the first floor Emergency Department and outpatient services at St. Luke's Miners Memorial Hospital early this morning, according to a hospital news release. Inpatient care at the hospital has not been affected, it said. "At this time, we are able to sustain inpatient operations," said hospital President Bill Moyer. "As a hospital, we drill for emergencies multiple times throughout the year. Our emergency preparedness prior to events such as this provides us with a foundation in which to work when true emergencies occur.

While hospitals all around the Lehigh Valley have been opening up facilities to be as close to their customers as possible, Easton Hospital is looking back to its home base for the latest sprucing up. The hospital and representatives of Allentown construction company Alvin H. Butz are touting the completion of renovations to its emergency department at the hospital in Wilson Borough. The approximately $1.2 million job on 16,000 square feet was finished ahead of time, the company says.

St. Luke's Quakertown Hospital announced a $2 million expansion and renovation of its emergency department on Thursday. Hospital President Fred Sprissler said the design of the project is scheduled for February completion with construction expected to begin in May. If the work progresses as planned, the new emergency department should be open in November 2002. The project will complete the full updating of the emergency departments at all four St. Luke's campuses, Sprissler said.

Lehigh Valley Health Network has reached an agreement to purchase Westfield Hospital in South Whitehall Township, the health networks announced Thursday. LVH plans to transform Westfield into a new facility called the Center for Orthopedic Medicine, which will focus on total joint replacement and spinal surgery. "The availability of Westfield Hospital provides LVHN with a unique opportunity to expand and enhance our already strong orthopedics program for the thousands of people who need those services," LVH President and CEO Ronald Swinfard said in a news release.

It's almost always an unpleasant experience that nearly every adult American has experienced at one time or another: A late night or weekend illness or injury occurs, prompting a visit to the hospital emergency department. The patient gets registered and waits in a noisy waiting room. Perhaps a nurse will check vital signs, and then the patient waits some more. Finally, the patient is brought to a hospital bed, only to wait even more. The process can take hours that, to patients who are already suffering, can feel like days.

Construction of the Jacob S. Kolb Pavilion at Muhlenberg Hospital Center will necessitate the relocation of parking for the hospital's emergency department patients. Beginning at 7 a.m. Sunday, patients visiting the emergency department are asked to park in Muhlenberg Medical Office Building parking lot located across from the hospital's emergency department. To help during this transition, valet parking will be provided from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Sunday. To use the valet parking service, pull your vehicle up to the designated emergency entrance.

The official groundbreaking ceremony for the $3 million to $4 million emergency department expansion and renovation project at St. Luke's Quakertown Hospital is planned for 3:30 p.m. today in front of the hospital, with a community health fair to follow at 4:30 p.m. The hospital's planned renovations call for updating equipment and expanding the number of emergency care stations from seven to 11. The overall emergency department area will be expanded,...

WHAT DOCTORS SAID Q: How has the number of patients in your emergency department changed over the past year? 80 percent said it has increased. Q: Do you believe the number of patients in your emergency department will change over the next year? 93 percent said they thought it would increase. Q: What is the reason the number of patients will increase? 28 percent said patients without health coverage 23 percent said a growing elderly population 16 percent said physician shortages Source: National Emergency Physicians Survey.

This is just a short note to let you know that I am very grateful for the outstanding, professional and cheerful care provided to me at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest from the moment I arrived in the emergency department, during my time in the emergency department, and throughout my stay in the K-6 unit. I want to thank all the people at the hospital and also Leonard P. Pool and all the other generous benefactors who have made Lehigh Valley Health Network a model of health care and human compassion.

St. Luke's University Hospital-Anderson campus continued its rapid expansion Monday with the opening of the top floor of the four-story hospital in Bethlehem Township. The hospital, which opened 21 months ago, also opened some of its refurbished bays in the emergency department Monday. In all, the health network has spent about $10 million improving and expanding the facility, campus President Ed Nawrocki said. The opening of the fourth floor gives the hospital 36 additional beds for a final total of 108. The expansion also means more jobs, Nawrocki said, noting that when the hospital first opened, it employed about 250 people.

This week, the sound in and around the expanded emergency department at St. Luke's Hospital-Anderson Campus is coming from workers pouring and smoothing the parking lot asphalt and installing the last pieces of electronic equipment. Next week, the space will be filled with the sound of ambulances, health care workers and the sick. The new $4.5 million emergency department at the hospital at Route 33 and Freemansburg Avenue in Bethlehem Township will open Monday, replacing a 17-month-old ER that already seems dated.

Dr. Andrew Miller watched Tuesday as workers put the finishing touches on a large tent outside the emergency department at Lehigh Valley Hospital on Cedar Crest Boulevard - a temporary addition recognizing the fury of this season's influenza outbreak. Miller, the medical director at LVH's children's emergency department, said the virus this year is something that the region hasn't seen in quite some time, especially after two mild flu seasons. Not only is the flu surging, but it's packing an extra wallop for some, too, he said.

Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest opened an ancillary emergency space Tuesday to care for the growing number of people with flu-like symptoms. The hospital said a mobile surge tent was being set up outside the emergency department at the hospital. Patients with flu-like symptoms still should report to the main emergency department check-in area for triage. Health officials said this season is setting up to be a fierce one for influenza. Four people in Pennsylvania have died of complications during this flu season, according to the state Department of Health.

When policy makers look at ways to curtail the spiraling cost of health care, they point to a familiar culprit: the hospital emergency department. They say too many people are getting ultra-costly emergency health care because they didn't see a primary care doctor before their health deteriorated. At area hospitals, demand for emergency department services remains high, so they're beefing up their emergency departments and putting them front and center before the public. Consider: Lehigh Valley Hospital in 2011 totally revamped its emergency department at its Muhlenberg campus and opened a children's ER in Salisbury Township.

Tucker opens practice in Bethlehem's Park Plaza Robert J. Tucker has opened a full-service accounting practice in Bethlehem. Tucker has been a certified public accountant, practicing in the Lehigh Valley for more than 38 years. He was a partner with Campbell, Rappold & Yurasits of Allentown before opening his office in the Park Plaza Building at Routes 512 and 22 in Hanover Township, Northampton County. Tucker's extensive background in public accounting includes experience in tax and audit services for individuals and closely held businesses, IRS representation, nonprofit organizations, operating authorities, municipalities and local government.

Onlookers watch the Grand View Hospital Duck Derby in Sellersville's Lenape Park. Participants paid $5 to enter a toy duck in the race. Safety programs for children and teens were also offered. Money will help expand and renovate the emergency department.

In the past year or so, as the Lehigh Valley's big health-care hitters made headlines with hospital purchases, new branding and specialty services, Easton Hospital quietly set about rebuilding its facilities and how it serves eastern Northampton County. Some of its major improvements go online this week, when the hospital opens 18 beds in a remodeled telemetry unit for cardiac care patients. It's the latest sign from parent company Community Health Systems of Brentwood, Tenn., that the 254-bed Easton Hospital will be competing over the long haul for its share of the Lehigh Valley's patient care market.

Cetronia Ambulance Corps is offering an Emergency Medical Responder Course to high school students, ages 14-18, every Monday through January and February, starting Jan. 6 and ending Feb. 24. There will be no class on Feb. 3. Students will receive 48-hour training on first aid, AED and oxygen administration. When students have successfully completed the course, they will get the opportunity to become certified Emergency Responders. Michael LaPearl, a certified ECSI instructor, Paramedic and Operations Supervisor for Cetronia Ambulance Corps, and Paul Wilhelm, a certified ECSI instructor, Paramedic and Clinical Coordinator for Cetronia Ambulance Corps, will be teaching the course.